La Crosse has agreed to cooperate with BNSF Railway on adding a controversial second line on the city’s east side, in exchange for the company paying for a number of changes needed to make way for the track.
The city council voted Thursday to accept BNSF’s offer to fund relocating utilities at 11 sites, upgrading rail crossings on Cass, Main and Farnam streets and reconfiguring the municipal Forest Hills Golf Course, including moving two holes east of the line
and adding a rail bridge with an underpass beneath the tracks. In addition, BNSF will pay the city $50,000 to close two at-grade crossings on the course.
The company also will cover all costs to send about 50 local firefighters for specialized training in Colorado or Texas within the next three years, and provide a foam trailer and two spill containment rigs that will be housed with the La Crosse Fire Department.
One additional carrot: BNSF will add $200,000 for wetlands mitigation, on top of whatever the state Department of Natural Resources decides is needed, if the state agrees to keep the money within the La Crosse area. Installing the second line will mean filling
in 7.2 acres of the La Crosse River Marsh.
The city now will halt any further objections to BNSF’s plans for a new 4-mile parallel line from Gillette Street in north La Crosse to just south of Farnam Street — roughly from Logan High School almost to Central High School. The company wants the upgrade
to eliminate delays at each end of what is the only single section of track on that route.
The group Citizens Acting for Rail Safety, or CARS, fears the additional track will only bring more trains carrying volitile Bakken oil from North Dakota and Montana through La Crosse. Residents near the existing line say increased rail traffic – BNSF now
averages about 50 trains a day on the line, up from about 33 in 2000 – already rattles their homes far more than in the past.
BNSF has pledged to use concrete rail ties on the new line that should create less vibration. But CARS wants the trains to dial down to 35 mph in the city, rather than the 45 mph BNSF says it will stick with even though by federal law it could run at 60
mph.
BNSF officials said Thursday they expect to begin work on some parts of the project within the next few weeks.
“We’re pleased with the outcome,” said Amy McBeth, BNSF public affairs director for the region. “This is a voluntary agreement that addresses a lot of the issues and limits the impacts to the city.”